a day of shakespeare

shakespeare was a pretty cool dude. he wrote great plays with complex plots, witty and sarcastically hilarious characters...and he did it with a frilly collar! no i'm kidding, he was a great writer who could use a multitude of characters to bring out the nuances of his handful of major characters (mercutio, paris, the capulets and montageus in romeo and juliet; ganymede/rosalind, touchstone, phebe, silvius in as you like it).

so what better way to spend a day then to spend it with shakespeare? i got the chance last weekend to watch the american ballet theatre's presentation of "romeo and juliet" at the dorothy chandler pavillion. i'm not a dancer (though i wish i was) and i don't really know much about ballet, but it was amazing for lack of a more amazing word. watching the girl playing juliet dance was like watching a cloud flutter around the stage. with the beautiful costumes and the ornate sets, watching a ballet presentation of romeo and juliet was like watching the emotions of the characters fly out of the dancers and fully understanding everything that is going on.


afterward, i watched an outdoor presentation of "as you like it" in front of the cathedral of our lady of the angels. it was such a contrast in performances. whereas "romeo and juliet" was filled with lavish costumes and glamorous sets, "as you like it" just had a stage and at max, five props. it was like watching a shakespeare play back in the time of shakespeare, when people didn't huge sets or props to understand a story, they just listened.
and it was so great to just listen to a story and watch the characters move with it. i really had to listen and to strain to listen because missing a line or two of dialogue could mean i miss the entire point of a scene, of the motive of a character, or the play completely. it sounds nerdy, but it was nice to just appreciate a play and appreciate good acting from actors who really filled out the shoes of their characters.

wow, i feel like i'm singing the praises of shakespeare but i guess i just had a good day spending time with the guy. me thinks i should do it more often.